England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Day 1: Highlights

We are back and the good news is that the English first innings will start right away! The umpires are back out in the middle and the Lankan players are seen in a huddle with the coach giving some final words of wisdom. It will be the new opening pair of Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence to open the innings for England. Also, it will be spin to get things underway with the light and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva has taken the new ball himself. Let's go...

... SECOND INNINGS ...

With 236 runs on the board, Sri Lanka will be slightly disappointed with their batting display. They now face the challenge of making the most of the overhead conditions and the remaining session to make a significant impact with the ball. The pitch remains conducive to batting, and England will be eager to build a substantial first-innings lead and tighten their grip on this match. However, with the fading light, the umpires take another reading before going off and the possibility of further play on Day 1 rests completely on the light. Dhananjaya de Silva might opt to start with spin but whether the umpires allow it or not remains to be seen. Join us in a bit to find out.

Milan Rathnayake continued his impressive debut into the final session, reaching a well-deserved half-century with strong support from Vishwa Fernando, ensuring the scoreboard kept ticking for Sri Lanka. England's pace attack remained the highlight, with Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson leading the charge, taking three and two wickets respectively. The rest of the bowling unit also delivered disciplined performances. However, they faltered slightly in the later stages of the second session and the start of the third session, allowing Sri Lanka to accumulate some valuable runs.

What began as a struggle and persisted through much of the second session saw a remarkable turnaround from Sri Lanka's lower order, who showed tremendous resilience to push the score to 236 runs, a recovery that seemed unlikely when they were teetering at a much lower total. Despite this late resistance, England will still be pleased with their bowling performance on a pitch that offered minimal assistance. Their relentless attack was justly rewarded, taking full advantage of the lackluster batting from Sri Lanka's top and middle order.

OUT! RUN OUT! A mixup against the run of play and Sri Lanka get bundled out for 236 runs. Joe Root bowls it nice and full on the stumps, Vishwa Fernando tucks it in front of Ollie Pope at mid-wicket before setting off for a quick single. Asitha Fernando sends him back, leaving Vishwa stranded halfway down the track. Pope quickly collects the ball and throws it to keeper Jamie Smith, who swiftly knocks the bails off. Despite a desperate dive from Vishwa Fernando, he was well short of the crease, bringing Sri Lanka's innings to a close.

With the round arm action, bowls it full and straight on off, Vishwa Fernando blocks it to covers.

FOUR! Adding valuable runs to the board is Vishwa Fernando! Root bowls it full and on off, Fernando slogs it straight past the bowler and to the left of mid on for a boundary.

Full and on middle and leg, Vishwa Fernando keeps it out.

Nicely bowled! Pushes the arm ball full and on leg, Vishwa Fernando misses on the flick and gets pinged on the pads.

Straight and on off, Vishwa Fernando blocks it down the deck.

Quicker this time, full and on off, Vishwa Fernando steers it through third man region for a single.

Bashir tosses it nice and full, outside off, Vishwa Fernando pushes it to covers.

A tad short and on the stumps, Vishwa Fernando hangs back and blocks it to the on side.

FOUR BYES! This one just gets through! Bashir errs in line and slides it full, down leg, Vishwa Fernando looks to help it on its way but makes no connection. The ball is well wide of the keeper who fails to stop it too as it races away to the fine leg fence for a boundary.

Turns this one sharp, from outside off and a tad shorter in length, Vishwa Fernando rocks back for the cut but is totally undone by the sharp spin.

Fires it in, full and just outside off, Vishwa Fernando sticks his bat out and pushes it to point.

Root bowls it full again and attacks the stumps, Asitha Fernando with a straight bat blocks it down the deck.

Flighted up, on middle and off, Asitha Fernando gets low and looks to sweep but miscues it back onto his pads.

Full again and on middle and leg, Asitha Fernando tucks it in front of short leg.